The Cavalier Daily
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How to protect this house

Al Groh has said all season long that he wants his Cavaliers to still be in the hunt on Nov. 1. Now, after a pair of upsets last weekend in College Park and Chapel Hill, the 'Hoos again control their own destiny for an ACC championship and automatic BCS bid.

The slate is certainly difficult, but Virginia has two of the four at home. And Scott Stadium has been good to the Cavaliers, as they have won 15 of the last 16 games they have played in Charlottesville.

For students, home games present the unique opportunity to get involved and actually help their team win. With critical home games the next two weekends, Scott Stadium has to be a hostile environment so the 'Hoos still sit atop the ACC on Nov. 14.

With that in mind, here are the three major areas in which students can improve as fans: recognizing when they are supposed to be loud, honing their football knowledge and stopping the wave.

First, the most important thing a fan does during the entire game is yell. That is what makes playing on the road so difficult -- not seeing some Sea of Orange in a stadium. The reason for being loud is actually quite simple: to make it difficult for the opposing offense to hear their quarterback.

Recognition of this goal carries with it two implicit meanings. One, don't yell when the Cavalier quarterback lines up under center. Two, yell the entire time the opponent has the ball. Make it tough for them to hear, even within the huddle. Too often, students don't start yelling until the visiting quarterback is about to hike the ball, yet yell constantly when Virginia has the ball. Let's make Scott Stadium hostile.

Over fall break, I had the opportunity to take in the LSU-Florida game at The Swamp, rated the toughest place to play in the nation by EA Sports. It was brutal. I couldn't hear myself or my neighbor talk at all whenever LSU had the ball. That's how college football should be. Scott Stadium may be at an inherent disadvantage only holding 61,500 people with an open end zone, but that doesn't mean it can't be raucous and crazy.

Second, knowledge. Now, I don't think most fans will know the intricacies of a zone blitz or be able to name all of the Cavaliers on the two-deep depth chart. Nor should they be expected to do so. No one is saying anything to the contrary.

Yet, there is one thing that I am certain of. There are legit penalties called against Virginia. Fans, especially students, love booing at every Virginia penalty. I'm not saying never to boo, but officials just don't mess up false starts and rarely mess up holdings. Most other minor penalties are the same way -

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